The flying man (Homo volans), Faust VrančićFrom Machinae novae. Venice, 1615/16Manuscripts and Old Books Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb

ContactDr Marijana Borić

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Artsmarijanaboric.hazu@gmail.com

ExhibitionOrganised by: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

PartnersNational and University Library in Zagreb, Croatia

Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Croatian Studies Foundation, Sydney, Australia

Authors: Dr Marijana Borić and Nela Marasović

Graphic design: Goran Hasanec

English translation: Dagmar Lasić

Copy-editing: Dr Danijel Dzino and Marcus Zanetic-Zalante

Exhibition leafletPublished by: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Co-publishersNational and University Library in Zagreb, Croatia

Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Croatian Studies Foundation, Sydney, Australia

Texts by: Dr Marijana Borić

Editor: Nela Marasović

Graphic design: Goran Hasanec

English translation: Dagmar Lasić

Printed by: National and University Library in Zagreb

Print run: 100

E x h i b i t i o nFaust Vrančić in the context of

European heritage

Croatian StudiesDepartment of International Studies Macquarie University

Sydney, Australia

Faust Vrančić (Faustus Verantius), Croatian polymath, inventor, engineer, philosopher, theologian and linguist, was born on 1 January 1551 in Šibenik, into a noble family, with ties to the viceroy of Croatia (ban) Petar Berislavić and Bishop Ivan Statilić, a prominent jurist involved in the annulment of marriage between Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon.

The Vrančić family traditionally took great care of the education of its gifted members and Faust’s education early became the responsibility of his uncle Antun Vrančić, a distinguished diplomat, clerical dignitary and primate of Hungary. After receiving initial education in Hungary, Faust went on to study law and philosophy in Padua, Italy. Upon completing his studies, he travelled through Europe and obtained new insights. He was interested in mathematics and physics, and improved his knowledge in these fields in Rome, Venice and Vienna.

In 1579 he was appointed the commander of Veszprém and manager of episcopal estates in its surrounding region. In this office he gained his first insights in the field of engineering. In 1581 he became the secretary at the royal court of Rudolf II in Prague, in which office he associated with prominent scholars of the time, such as astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, philosopher Giordano Bruno and many others.

Prague, Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg.Facsimile of Civitates orbis terrarium (1572-1617). Stuttgart, 1969.Print Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb.

Šibenik, Franz Hogenberg and Georg Braun.Etching, 1576.Print Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb.

Dictionarium quinque nobilissimarum Europae linguarum, Faust Vrančić.Rome, 1595.Manuscripts and Old Books Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb.

After the death of his wife in 1594, Vrančić left Prague, visited Dalmatia and returned to Italy. In 1598, Rudolf II appointed him the bishop of Csanád, and also the chancellor of Hungary and Transylvania.

He left secular life in 1605, when he moved to Rome, where in 1608 he joined Clerics Regular of St. Paul, or the Barnabite order. He consistently advocated the renewal of the Catholic Church and opposed Reformation, as well as the religious split resulting thereof within the Croatian-Hungarian kingdom, being aware that the domination of Protestantism during the 16th century led to a significant decrease in the support of the Catholic countries to many regions struggling against the Ottomans. He died on 20 January 1617 in Venice. He kept a strong bond to his native region all throughout his life – he often used a nickname Sicenus, a native of Šibenik, and, according to his explicit wish, he was buried in the Church of St. Mary in Prvić Luka, on the island of Prvić, near Šibenik.

As a versatile man of the Renaissance, a true homo universalis, Vrančić left behind a rich and varied oeuvre. His most famous printed works are Dictionarium quinque nobilissimarum Europae linguarum, Latinae, Italicae, Germanicae, Dalmaticae et Ungaricae (Venice, 1595), the first complete dictionary of the Croatian language and one of the first comprehensive dictionaries of Hungarian, and Machinae novae

(Venice, 1615/1616), a masterpiece of technical literature of the Renaissance period with 49 technical drawings presenting 56 different devices and technical constructions, accompanied by comments in Latin, Italian, Spanish, French and German.

Standing out among Vrančić’s many designs are his original inventions – the parachute, metal bridge, chain suspension bridge, aerial lift and shock absorbers, whose publication as part of Machinae was also their first ever publication in the history of engineering. His Homo volans, “The flying man”, the first construction identical to the modern-day parachute, earned him worldwide fame. Vrančić also published a hagiographic work in Croatian (Život nikoliko izabranih divic, Rome, 1606), and two philosophical works (Logica suis ipsius instrumentis formata, Venice, 1608; Ethica christiana, Rome, 1610), which he also published as a one-volume edition at the very end of his life (Logica nova suis ipsius instrumentis formata et recognita. Ethica christiana, Venice, 1616). His legacy also includes two manuscripts – a biography of his distinguished uncle Antun Vrančić (Vita Antonii Werantii) and a historiographic work on ancient Illyricum (Illyrica historia).

Dr Marijana BorićCroatian Academy of Sciences and Arts